5.5 years. This is nuts.
Wow.
5.5 years into this blog. This whole year has been year of milestones for me.
Actually, I'm writing this entry aboard a plane returning to Hong Kong from
Singapore. Got to say, I'm absolutely loving the idea that I have 3 seats to
myself! :)
Anyway,
so life is good. Things have been hectic but they've always been hectic so I'm
no longer surprised or shaken by that. In fact, it's when things are too calm
that I tend to worry and wonder and start getting suspicious. 2012 has been a
year of milestones for me and the 1st milestone has been my level of acceptance.
I've
started to become much more calm and understanding when it comes to life in
general. I've also developed an old-man-grumpy attitude at times.. but it's all
good because along with that I've developed an old-man-whatever attitude as
well where at the end of the day, whatever happens I'm like "ahh,
whatever" so it doesn't ruin my mood.
So
I finally got my photos using the
LC-Wide camera from Lomography developed. I have to say, this camera is fun! I
think at first, I wasn't used to the idea of a non-digital camera because Im so
used to taking a picture and being able to see the final product immediately!
With this, I had rolls of 36 pictures and that meant I had to finish the roll,
take it down for development and then wait and finally see my handy work. And I
have to say, I should have paid more attention in photography class :P I mean,
out of 3 rolls, I got a few good pictures that I liked as you can see below,
but I think this camera has got me very curious now, I want to take even more
pictures to see what everything does!
I
still have a bunch of rolls and I look forward to taking more pictures and
seeing how they turn out. Bravo Lomo, you've done something I never though
would happen: You've made me enjoy taking photographs. Well I enjoy it mostly
because you've created a new anxiety for me where I need to find out how my
pictures turn out, so I have a need to take more photos so I can develop the
roll and eventually repeat the process. Great economic plan! :) For anyone
who's always enjoyed taking pictures or is an instagram addict, I suggest you
give a normal film camera a spin if you're ever going on a trip. Develop the
pictures after you return, you'll find going through all the photos a real
thrill!
So
I'm looking forward to getting back to Hong Kong because I'm excited about what
lies ahead. Oddly, I remember around 4 years ago, I would go to bed excited
because I wanted to wake up already and get going with all my plans and ideas
for the next day. There was a long period when that kind of excitement wasn't
there. I'm not saying life was boring, but it was the kind of life where things
were smooth sailing and therefore I would go to bed peacefully knowing things
are going and moving. I'm excited now because it feels like there's so much I
want to do and there's so much I can do. It's just a matter of taking advantage
of any opportunity and just doing it.
As
I said earlier, this year has been the year of milestones. I just experienced
another milestone. I was in Singapore as the headlining act for Comedy Masala'sCentury Masala show! 100 shows into Masala and I had the honor of being the
chosen act to close this show! Every single local comic there was on fire that
night and even the newcomers did very well. I absolutely loved the high energy
and especially the challenge because as a headliner, you better have something
that takes the game to a whole new level! After doing gigs in Singapore for a
few times, I've managed to absorb the environment and write some local humor. I
was proud to have 3 new bits I incorporated into the show that I had just
written after my plane landed. On my flight to Singapore, there was a monk on
the plane (like literally 100% monk, with the robes and all) and I wrote a bit
joking about how the monk sat next to me and the weird thing was, I was at the
Window Seat, the monk in the middle seat and…. no one at the aisle seat, so
when I asked the monk to move to the aisle seat, he said "I'm buddhist, I
always find the middle way" :P, on the taxi I noticed a lot of
construction sites that sported cool safety signs like "Safety today,
alive tomorrow" and some trying to be funky like "when it doubt,
check it out" so I added my own and said there was a big sign outside my
hotel window that said "don't die" ;P… and finally, when in my hotel
room, I encountered a very weird lotion in the bathroom that said "Hair
and Body Shampoo" so I took it to the show and asked the audience
"how did they know I was that hairy!?". Got to say, I was so happy it
went well and another thing is I got 1 full hour of pure un-interrupted writing
time which was amazing! It has been ages since I had a whole hour where I could
just write without distractions. It helped me refine these 3 brand new bits and
thankfully, I trusted my gut and just let it flow on stage. Comedy Masala
finished and everyone was happy including myself. An honor and a milestone for
me as well.
I've
recently gotten back on track with the balance between comedy and my web design
work and it has allowed me to rest my mind and give it a chance to just…be
creative. While I was in India for 2 weeks for my cousin's wedding, I had no
choice but to put work aside and I could feel my brain turning faster, my
responses were quicker and I could just think more. My creativity started
flowing like before and it was great! I realize that just like your body's
muscles, your mind needs a chance to just stretch, relax and do its thing.
Speaking
of web design. my business is going well and I'm proud to say all my
"systems" are functioning properly. I've tweaked and re-tweaked and
well I've finally found the way that I enjoy working. Sure things can still be
improved but my workflow etc seems to be going well. The only variable factor
is my time and energy. I'm finally not overwhelmed and can feel at the end of
the day, my work is moving forward. My clients are happy and I'm happy because
we've all found each other's working style and found ways to synergies,
something I'm a big, big, big fan of.
My
drumming, however, has been suffering for the last month. I'm started to get
back on track and luckily, thanks to muscle memory, the time it takes me to get
back on track is shorter. I've noticed it gets shorter each time! I suppose my
brain is just cleaning out rust rather than laying new groundwork and so I can
be back on track to where I left off within 1 week of practicing daily.
Speaking of drumming, my band, Eve of Sin, is finally a full band now! We have
the drummer (moi!), 2 guitarists, a bassist and a vocalist! We're a complete
metal band. In fact we're playing a gig on 15 Sept 2012 at the HKMetal Alliance show and we're super duper excited. We're working hard and practicing
during all our free time (in fact, I land in HK today, and go straight to band
practice. Yes, that's right :P)
Someone
once asked me where I wanted to go with my band, and I remember when I was
younger, I was hoping I could tour the world. Then that stopped and I figured
if I could just play in a band, I'd be a happy man. But now, my dream has been
revived. I'd love to tour the world, heck I'm touring around Asia with my
comedy, why not the band as well? Heck, why not one day be the official theme-song
creator for Legend Fighting Championship?
You never know!
Speaking
of "you never know", I think I've developed a new optimism partly
because at the recent Legend 10 event, I got to meet THE Grinder Girl. You
know, the one as see on The Late Show with David Letterman? I got to see her perform, introduce
her and also speak to her! I couldn't believe that was happening because when I
was a kid, watching David Letterman on TV, I would have never, ever, in my
right mind imagined that one day I would meet the Grinder Girl! After that
happened, I figured you really never, ever know, so the whole world is open to
me now. I mean, I've performed on the same show as Sugar Sammy, someone I
remember watching on Youtube even before I started my comedy career, and I got
to hang out with him…..what's stopping me from one day speaking to Jerry
Seinfeld? Or sitting across Chris Rock?
I
was re-reading my old major blog entries and I remember one of them talked
about how I wanted to try some crazy workouts and I am proud to say, I not only
do some mixed up workouts but I absolutely love it. I've always believed that a
strong mind starts with a strong body and sure I've had my periods where I just
don't care (eg. after I returned from India and had that upset stomach, I just
ate whatever), but it's great to be back! I love taking myself to the gym with
a partial workout in my mind and then trying to see how far I can push myself
as my workout happens. Dripping in sweat is what I look forward to followed by
a yummy workout shake at the end, that just makes my day :)
Today's
29 August 2012, which means I'm passed the 50% mark of 2012, but it still means
I have a good 4 months before the year ends. That's 16 weeks. A typical workout
program is 12 weeks long. My drumming exercises says its a 16-week long
program. If I write 2 minutes of solid, hard-core funny stuff a week, in 16
weeks, I'll have 32 minutes of laughter, which is half a one-man show. I think
at this point, I have no excuse but to progress in the direction I want to be
going. Now, it's just a matter of executing, making sure you face the world
with a Mind like Water, and keep track of everything so you keep the motivation
up. These are all methods, tricks, techniques I've learned over the last 5 and
a half years, since the day I began this blog. The most interesting thing would
be seeing how I actually progressed in 6 months time.
Until
then, keep achieving those dreams and make sure you have a tally of which ones
you did! Then one day, sit back, get a bowl of ice cream, and like flipping
through an old photo album, look at all the little ticks you have in your
life's timeline.
Follow
that with a smile :)
PS. This entry was written on a plane around 20 hours ago and I finally got a chance to upload it and stuff....yes, this is how crazy fast time flies here...
PS. This entry was written on a plane around 20 hours ago and I finally got a chance to upload it and stuff....yes, this is how crazy fast time flies here...
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